The Stage

Dennis Chritchley

Published Tuesday 9 March 2010 at 11:00 by Basil Chritchley

Former theatre manager, agent, director and performer Dennis Chritchley who died on January 15, was the last manager of the city’s Royalty Theatre, a position he held from 1957 until the theatre’s closure in 1966.

He directed plays at the Royalty and wrote and directed many pantomimes and summer shows for major venues all over the UK. With the closure of the Royalty, he ran a theatrical agency in premises above the Theatre Shop, which was managed by his wife Joyce.

Dennis Raymond Martyn Chritchley was born in London into a theatrical family in May 1928. His father, under the name of Arthur Martyn, wrote material for star comedians of the day such as Max Miller, Vic Oliver, Sid & Max Harrison, to name but a few, and pantomimes, one of which, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, was commissioned by Val Parnell for the London Palladium.

At the age of 14, Dennis went off on tour with Nat Mills and Bobbie, playing all the Moss Empire circuit and appearing with them in the Royal Command Performance at the London Palladium in 1946. The valuable experience he gained in the varied guises he had to play as their stooge stood him in good stead when, a few years later, he embarked on a solo career after doing his national service in Egypt.

As Dennis Martyn, impressionist, he worked continually in variety, pantomime and summer seasons, and it was during a season at the Gaiety Theatre on the Isle of Man that he met Joyce, a Tower Circus dancer, his future wife. They were lucky enough to work together for several years, going straight from long-running panto seasons into 26-week summer seasons.

Eventually, with the added responsibility of a family to support, Dennis decided to go into theatre management and became under-manager at the Queens Theatre Blackpool in 1952. From here he moved to the Royal Pavilion Repertory Theatre and then, in 1957, he was appointed manager of the Royalty Theatre in Chester. In addition to presenting plays, musicals and variety throughout the year, he enjoyed writing and directing the annual pantomimes. He gave Freddie Garrity of Freddie and the Dreamers his first role in pantomime, and it was in his production of Babes in the Wood that local Chester lad Keith Harris made his first stage appearance.

During the fifties and sixties, many variety stars such as Ken Dodd, Frankie Vaughan and Helen Shapiro (aged 14) appeared at the Royalty to be followed by ‘pop’ singers and groups including the Rolling Stones, Beatles and Gerry and the Pacemakers.

With the decline of provincial theatre, Chritchley was forced to turn the Royalty into a club, which provided him with the opportunity to present and encourage young groups such as the Black Abbots. He rehearsed them remorselessly and, spotting the comedic talent of Russ Abbot, he devised comedy routines for him, which they performed together in the club. Abbot thanked him personally for teaching him the rudiments of comedy presentation and timing on his This is Your Life in 1997.

With the Royalty no longer presenting pantomime, Chritchley was available to direct pantos for other managements. The Delfont Organisation, Danny Betesh and Norman Murray engaged him on various occasions to direct productions starring artists such as Cilla Black, Cannon and Ball, and Dana in the major theatres such as Liverpool Empire, Alhambra Bradford and Golders Green Hippodrome. He also directed many summer seasons.

In 1980, he revived the subject of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs as a traditional pantomime, adapting his father’s book and introducing the name of Muddles for the comic. The fact that this is now one of the most frequently produced subjects at Christmas is due to the popularity of this first large-scale production at the Tameside Theatre, Ashton-under-Lyne. The following year it broke box office records at the New Theatre Hull, with Dana in the leading role and subsequently enjoyed a long run in London’s Phoenix Theatre.

After the theatre club closed, Chritchley remained in Chester - which had family connections, as his grandfather was principal of Chester College between 1864-9 - enjoying a few years of quiet retirement before he died on January 15, after a short illness.

He is survived by his wife, Joyce and me, his brother, Basil. His wife Jane adds: “He had no time for hobbies. Dennis spent all his life in the theatre and loved every minute of it.”